Dermatoglyphic nomogram for the diagnosis of Down's syndrome.

The palm and foot prints of 250 karyotypically proved trisomic Down's syndrome patients and 332 control subjects with normal karyotypes were examined for patterns in 32 areas. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between Down's syndrome patients and control subjects in the pattern frequency of 14 areas; only four pattern areas accounted for most of the total dermatoglyphic variation between the two groups. Since discriminant function analysis of these four areas permitted accurate diagnosis of 81 per cent of the individuals with mongolism, a simple dermatoglyphic nomogram was devised to facilitate application of the method.